Marrickville Readers' Gazette

Launch of National Year of Reading at Marrickville Library

2012-01-26T19:40:00.000-08:00

Marrickville Library will host a local launch of the 2012 National Year of Reading on Friday 17 February with prominent local authors, Gabrielle Carey and Nadia Wheatley, who will speak about the books that have inspired them and how reading has enriched their lives.

The National Year of Reading will link together events involving books, reading and literacy, and create new inspirational literacy programs across the country. The Year will encourage children learning to read, help keen readers find new sources of inspiration, and support reading initiatives that also respect the oral tradition of storytelling.

Gabrielle Carey is a well-known and popular writer of fiction, non-fiction and memoir, essays and newspaper articles. Her first book was Puberty Blues, co-authored with Kathy Lette. She is currently working on a collection of essays investigating the Australian psyche, Australia on the Couch: analysing the Australian national character.

Nadia Wheatley has won a number of awards for her writing that spans fiction, history, biography and picture books. She writes for adults as well as for young people. She is the author of My Place, illustrated by Donna Rawlins, which won the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers in 1988. It is based on Nadia’s knowledge of the St Peters area and tells the stories of different children over thousands of years to illustrate the history of Australia.

The local launch of the 2012 National Year of Reading is at Marrickville Library on Friday 17 February from 6.30pm to 8pm. Light refreshments will be provided. RSVPs to 9335 2173 or info1@marrickville.nsw.gov.au. Other programs and events to take place during the National Year of Reading will also be announced at the launch.

December – Summer Reads at Marrickville Library

2011-12-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

The theme for December is Summer Reads.

Summer. Long hot lazy days, the beach, holidays, Xmas, family. The possibilities for the storyteller are endless.

When I think of summer and reading, West Australian authors Tim Winton (An Open Swimmer, Blueback, Breath) and Robert Drewe (The Bodysurfers) spring to mind. For Sydney summers, there’s Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey’s Puberty Blues. And Colin Thiele (Sun on the Stubble, Storm Boy, February Dragon) best captures the nature of the hot dry South Australian summer and landscape. Queensland has The Passage by Vance Palmer, a story set on the Gold Coast back when it was just a series of dunes and fishing shacks. And then there’s Helen Garners’s Monkey Grip, which begins randomly one Melbourne summer in 1974 – a great Australian novel.
Overseas I can think of sweltering New York in The Great Gatsby, the languid French Riviera of Bonjour Tristesse and the stifling Norfolk British summer of 1900 in LP Hartley’s The Go-Between.

What books would you nominate for Summer Reads ?

The State Library of NSW Readers Advisory twitter service is also discussing summer reads books in December via the hashtag #summerreads. More information is available at http://readit2011.wordpress.com/december/.

November – Moreads at Marrickville Library

2011-11-14T19:23:00.000-08:00

This months theme is Moreads in honour of Movember - the brainchild of three blokes drinking in a Melbourne bar in 2003. Movember has now raised over $175 million for research, treatment and education programs targeting men’s health. This month over 500,000 men will put their shavers aside and attempt to grow a moustache for the month-long campaign.

The Victorian and Edwardian years of the 19th and early 20th Century were the golden age of the moustache (apart from a fortunately brief and minor resurgence in the late 1970s). It’s perhaps fitting that this month we remember some of the great authors who also sported great moustaches.

Mark Twain was a giant of American literature and he had a moustache to match. His travel books were popular throughout his life including A Tramp Abroad and Life on the Mississippi but he made his name with the much-loved The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. An early science fiction novel, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court and an historical fiction, Recollections of Joan of Arc stand out as departures from his normal style. Twain was a master at writing in a relaxed and humorous style with memorable characters. He also had a keen ear for natural and realistic language.

Across the Atlantic, HG Wells moustache wasn’t a patch on Twain’s but he was an enormously popular and prolific author in England before the Second World War. He’s remembered mostly for his early science-fiction novels including The Time Machine, War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man. Much is made of the number of modern technologies that he anticipated in his writings including the atomic bomb, space travel, genetic engineering and the mobile phone…but we’re still waiting for time travel, invisibility and alien invasion. Wells also wrote some fine social and comic novels of Edwardian middle-class England such as Kipps, Tono-Bungay and The History of Mr Polly. He is worth revisiting for his richly drawn characters and vibrant imagination.

Closer to home, Henry Lawsons ‘tash is in the same league as Mark Twain. Like Twain, Lawson was a great chronicler of rural life. He was an egalitarian and a master of natural language. He never wrote a novel and even derided the short story in favour of “sketch stories” - short descriptive pieces with little plot. While the Billy Boils was his most popular prose collection.

Other significant writers with moustaches from the Victorian and Edwardian era include Jerome K. Jerome, James Joyce, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, and Joseph Furphy. The moustache is still popular in many non-English language cultures. Modern authors with moustaches include Gunter Grass, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Derek Walcott and Carlos Fuentes. Is David Malouf the only significant current Australian novelist to regularly sport a moustache? Let us know!

Library Survey

2011-11-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

The Swift Library Consortium consists of 22 Public Library Services (16 across Victoria and six located in NSW including Marrickville Library & History Services). These libraries share a single catalogue, processes and procedures. This provides library patrons with a greater range and variety of titles to choose from when wanting to borrow from their local library. In addition, the Consortium has been able to generate savings to libraries through its combined purchasing position.

The sharing of collections alone has seen the level of loans between Consortium libraries increase from 50,000 items in 2007 to 650,000 in the last year.

To further improve the services offered to our patrons, Swift is seeking Marrickville Library patron’s views during the month of November 2011.

The survey can be done online or by filling in a survey form at Marrickville Library.

National Year of Reading 2012 – Our Story

2011-11-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

The National Year of Reading 2012 – Our Story is the national poll for the eight books that best paint a picture of the Australian people and the land that we live in.

Examples of books could include stories of the Indigenous people or that captures the cultures and traditions of more recent arrivals, or a book that takes the reader on a journey from the coast through the great tracts of grazing land to the arid red centre, or a book that someone in Broome can relate to as closely as someone in Adelaide.

Readers are invited to vote for the book that will go forward to represent their state or territory and will become part of the National Year of Reading collection.

An independent panel of readers has decided on a shortlist for each state and territory, chosen from a selection put forward by publishers and libraries. Voting opened on 1 November 2011 and closes on the 6 January 2012.

To vote online visit the ABC website, or drop in to your local library or book shop and fill in a voting slip.

The eight winning books will be announced at the launch of the National Year of Reading on 14 February 2012 at the National Library of Australia in Canberra, together with details of a competition for keen readers to win the collection of all eight books.

Our Story homepage

You can also post comments to the Our Story Facebook page and become involved in the National Year of Reading by joining the National Year of Reading Book Club. Help other club members discover great Australian novels, discuss your favourite books and meet like-minded readers.

Julian Barnes wins 2011 Man Booker Prize

2011-11-03T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2011 has been won by Julian Barnes for The Sense Of An Ending. The prize, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2008, aims to reward the best novel of the year written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The book was praised by the judges as a “truly wonderful novel that will have the reader immersed in the story from the very first page, and all the while marvelling at the precision of Barnes’ prose”. Julian Barnes had been previously nominated for the Booker Prize for Flaubert's Parrot (1984), England, England (1998), and Arthur & George (2005). The selection for this years prize was heavily criticised by some commentators as signs of a “dumbing down” of the competition. Comments were also made about the lack of representation of authors from outside the UK apart from two Canadian authors.

2011 Nobel Prize for Literature

2011-10-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to Swedish poet, Tomas Tranströmer.

He is the first Swede to win the award since 1974 when the Prize caused controversy when it was given to two members of the Nobel Academy. Tranströmer is a perennial frontrunner for the award and had been nominated every single year since 1993. The Nobel Committee stated that Tranströmer's work received the prize “because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality”.

Copies of his work in English are available for loan via Inter-Library Loan.

Wikipedia entry for Tomas Transtromer

Official Tomas Transtromer website

Nobel prize for Literature 2011 webpage

New authors added to Who Else Writes Like

2011-10-18T19:15:00.000-07:00

Thirty new authors have been added to Who Else Writes Like Online including two Australians, Malcolm Knox and Alex Miller.

Malcolm Knox is the author of three novels, Summerland, A Private Man, and most recently, Jamaica. While literary editor at the Sydney Morning Herald, Malcolm Knox broke the story of hoax-author Norma Khouri, for which he won a Walkley Award. He is also the author of Secrets of the Jury Room, a non-fiction account of his experience as a juror, and a history of the jury system.

Alex Miller is twice winner of Australia’s premier literary prize the Miles Franklin Literary Award, first in 1993 for The Ancestor Game and again in 2003 for Journey to the Stone Country. He is also an overall winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize in 1993 for The Ancestor Game. His fifth novel, Conditions of Faith, won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in the 2001 New South Wales Premier’s Awards. In 2011 he won this award a second time with his recent novel Lovesong. Lovesong also won the People’s Choice Award in the NSW Premier’s Awards, the Age Book of the Year Award, and the Age Fiction Prize for 2011. In 2007 Landscape of Farewell was published to wide critical acclaim and in 2008 Alex Miller won the Chinese Annual Foreign Novels 21st Century Award for Best Novel and the Manning Clark Medal for an outstanding contribution to Australian cultural life.

The database is available to Marrickville Library patrons and members via the Online Resources page at http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/library/web_resources/onlineresources.html.

Other new authors added are

BLACK, Sean
BRISCOE, Joanna
BRUCE, Alison
CARTER, Chris
CARVER, Tania
CASEY, Jane
CHANCE, Rebecca
DAVIES, Caitlin
DONALD, Angus
DOUGLAS, Louise
DRAKE, Nick
FLYNN, Gillian
FRANKLIN, Tom
GLASS, Julia
GRAN, Sara
HANNAH, Kristin
JAHN, Ryan David
LAWRENSON, Deborah
LEAVITT, Caroline
LEVIEN, David
MONROE, Aly
PETERSON, Alice
RASH, Ron
VIDA, Vendela
WAGSTAFF, Sasha
WALSH, Helen

Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Award winner announced

2011-08-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite literary awards is the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction award. Since 1982 the English Department at San Jose State University has sponsored this whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels. It is named after a 19th century author Edward George Bulwer-Lytton whose novel Paul Clifford (1830) began with the following immortal lines:

'It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.'

The 2011 overall winning entry is:

"Cheryl’s mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories."

My personal favourite is the Fantasy section winner:

"Within the smoking ruins of Keister Castle, Princess Gwendolyn stared in horror at the limp form of the loyal Centaur who died defending her very honor; “You may force me to wed,” she cried at the leering and victorious Goblin King, “but you’ll never be half the man he was.”"

The full list of winners from a range of genres as well as links to a number of other amusing sites can be found at http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/.

August – Science Fiction

2011-08-03T21:34:00.000-07:00

Our reading theme for August is Science Fiction. The stereotypical sci-fi reader is young, geeky and male but in reality anybody can be a fan and most people have read and enjoyed a science fiction novel. Like many genres it is difficult to say exactly what science fiction is. I like Robert A. Heinlein’s definition of science fiction: “the realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present.”

Although science fiction might seem like a fairly recent genre its roots go back to ancient mythology. One of the earliest examples of science fiction is True History, a story that covers outer space travel, alien life-forms, and interplanetary warfare. It was written in the 2nd Century AD by the Greek-speaking Syrian author, Lucian of Samosata. The sci-fi genre became very popular in the 19th century with the development of new communication, power and transport technologies. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) is considered the first work of modern science fiction. Other 19th Century authors like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells were instrumental in further popularising the genre.

There are lots of ‘Best Science Fiction Books’ lists around. The site Sci-Fi Lists is probably as good as any, although I must admit I have never heard of the No 1 ranked title, Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. The site also has a large number of additional lists for films, TV shows and sub-genres. I’m pleased to see that my favourite sci-fi novel, Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed comes in at number 54.

“Who Else Writes Like … ?” is now available online to library members

2011-07-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Marrickville Library & History Services has made the online version of Who Else Writes like … ? available to Library members.
Who Else Writes like … ? is designed to help anyone who enjoys reading fiction to expand the number of writers they read. It is designed to answer the perennial question, “I've read all the books by my favourite authors, who shall I read next?" It includes entries for over 2,000 popular authors and you can search by author, genre, character or location.

Access via the link on the Online Resources page at http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/library/web_resources/onlineresources.html

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2011 winners announced

2011-07-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

The winners of the 2011 Prime Minister's Literary Awards have been announced.

The winner of the Fiction award is first time author, Stephen Daisley for his novel Traitor. Traitor is the story of the relationship that develops between an ANZAC soldier and Turkish doctor recuperating in a military hospital during the First World War.

The Non-Fiction award has been given to Rod Moss for The Hard Light of Day, the biographical story of his 25 years as an art teacher at Alice Springs and the relationships he developed with the Aboriginal people of the Arrernte country.

The winner of the Young Adult Fiction category is Cath Crowley for Graffiti Moon and the Children's Fiction winner is Shake a Leg by Boori Monty Pryor with illustrations by Jan Ormerod.

Further information is available at
http://www.arts.gov.au/pmliteraryawards

July – Crime Fiction at Marrickville Library

2011-06-30T20:55:00.000-07:00

The popularity of crime fiction is a fairly recent phenomenon. Only 20 or 30 years ago you didn’t see too many crime novels on the bestseller list. Once derided as “cheap” or “pulp” fiction, crime novels now regularly make up over 50% of bestseller lists and account for up to 25 percent of fiction sold around the world. Traditionally a genre of appeal to male readers one of the reasons for the rising popularity of modern crime writing has been the increase in female writers, characters and readers. The genre has also expanded and diversified to include a raft of sub genres such as Detectives, Legal and Courtroom Drama, Police Procedurals, Historicals, Brit Grit, Victorian Detectives, Forensic Psychologists, Psychopaths and Women Detectives.

Wikipedia has a speculative list of “The 100 top Crime Novels of All Time” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Top_100_Crime_Novels_of_All_Time.

Marrickville Library has a healthy collection of crime fiction and during July is highlighting one of the more recent sub genres to develop, Scandinavian writers. Authors represented in the collection include Steig Larsson, Hakan Nesser, Henning Mankel, Lars Kepler, Leif Persson, Jo Nesbo, Karin Fossum, Sigurdardottir Yrsa, Arnaldur Indriðason and Peter Hoeg.

The State Library of NSW Readers Advisory twitter service is also discussing crime books in July via the hashtag #whodoneit. More information is available at http://readit2011.wordpress.com/july/.

Miles Franklin Award 2011

2011-06-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Western Australian writer, Kim Scott has been awarded the Miles Franklin Literary Award for 2011 for his novel That Deadman Dance. This was his third novel and he also shared the award with Thea Astley in 2000 for his novel, Benang.

“Big-hearted, moving and richly rewarding, That Deadman Dance is set in the first decades of the 19th century in the area around what is now Albany, Western Australia. In playful, musical prose, the book explores the early contact between the Aboriginal Noongar people and the first European settlers. …Supple and accessible in style, generous in spirit and outlook, That Deadman Dance is a fascinating, powerful portrait of Australia's earliest days.”

See http://www.milesfranklin.com.au/bio_kims for more information and judges comments.

The shortlist for this years award included only two other books, When Colts Ran by Roger McDonald and Bereft by Chris Womersley, a resident of Marrickville.

Most popular ebooks

2011-05-18T23:55:00.000-07:00

The library now has a growing collection of adult fiction eBooks and Audiobooks available for download.
All titles are included in our catalogue or you can access the Bolinda Digitial and eLibrary24/7 collections via links on the Library homepage.

The most popular eBooks have been;
1.Appeal Denied, by Peter Corris
2.Brazen Virtue, by Nora Roberts
3.The Slap, by Christos Tsiolkas
4.House Rules, by Jodi Picoult
5.The Distant Hours, by Kate Morton
6.Breaking the Rules, by Suzanne Brockmann
7.A Tiny Bit Marvellous, by Dawn French
8.Always, by Iris Johansen
9.Change of Heart, by Jodi Picoult
10.The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

The most popular AudioBooks have been;
1.Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
2.1st to Die, by James Patterson
3.The White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga
4.The Black Echo, by Michael Connelly
5.Echo Park, by Michael Connelly
6.Fry's English Delight, by Stephen Fry
7.Treachery In Death, by J. D. Robb
8.The Friday Night Knitting Club, by Kate Jacobs
9.The Elegance of the Hedgehog, by Muriel Barbery
10.Cause of Death, by Patricia Cornwell

Twitter reading group

2011-05-04T23:28:00.000-07:00

A NSW public library group has set up a blog and twitter service to encourage readers to tweet and discuss about the books they are reading.

You can follow the monthly themes or simply tweet your latest reading experiences.

Access via the #readit2011 blog http://readit2011.wordpress.com/

Sydney Writers’ Festival program released

2011-04-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Sydney Writers Festival program has been released and is available at http://www.swf.org.au.

The Festival presents some of the world's finest poets, novelists and authors of literary nonfiction, including 2010 Man Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson; Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours and By Nightfall, Michael Cunningham; the acclaimed David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas and The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet) and Aminatta Forna (The Memory of Love), as well as internationally renowned Australians Peter Robb, Kim Scott, Markus Zusak, Sonya Hartnett and John Tranter.

1st Tuesday Book Club seeking audience members

2011-03-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

The ABC program The 1st Tuesday Book Club has announced its recording dates for 2011 and is inviting viewers to be part of the studio audience.

All tapings are free. Most of the tapings are doubles which means you can come to both or just one.
Recording takes place at the ABC studios, 700 Harris Street Ultimo. The first recording is from 11.45am until 1.30om and the second is from 2.15pm – 3.30pm.

Recording will take place on the following dates:
Friday 8 April, Wednesday 13 April, Friday 20 May, Friday 31 May, Friday 1 July, Friday 29 July, Friday 16 September, Friday 14 October and Friday 25 November – Summer Special.

To book a place, please call 8333 3644.

NSW Premier's Literary Awards shortlist announced

2011-03-21T17:05:00.000-07:00

The shortlists for the 2011 NSW Premier's Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlists, which cover a wide range of literature including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children’s books & script writing can be found at http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/ .

You can vote for the People’s Choice Award for best Fiction from the following list at http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/peoples-choice-award .

Kristel Thornell- Night Street
Lisa Lang – Utopian Man
Alex Miller - Lovesong
Ouyang Yu - The English Class
Stephen Daisley - Traitor
Peter Carey – Parrot and Olivier in America

Award winners will be announced in May.

Richard Glover to speak at Marrickville Town Hall

2011-02-01T17:56:00.000-08:00

Local author, Richard Glover will present at The Marrickville Reads Local Author Celebration on Friday 11 February.

The free presentation provides an opportunity for visitors to ask questions and join the discussion with the bestselling author. Richard will also be available for book signings and copies of his most recent book, Why Men are Necessary and More News from Nowhere, will be available for purchase.

Richard Glover is an ABC broadcaster, local author and humorist. He is the author of twelve books for both adults and children, as well as several stage shows. Richards’ weekly column in the Sydney Morning Herald has been published for over twenty years.
His recent book, Why Men are Necessary and More News from Nowhere, is a collection of his comic pieces as featured on ABC’s radio program, Thank God It’s Friday.

There will also be a display of photographs and memorabilia covering the history of live entertainment in Marrickville. The evening will also include entertainment by the Sirens Quintet.

The Marrickville Reads Local Author Celebration will be held at Marrickville Town Hall 303 Marrickville Road Marrickville.

Light refreshments will be available from 6.30pm.

Please RSVP to Marrickville Council’s Citizens’ Service Centre on 9335 2222.

New online audiobook titles

2011-01-17T15:23:00.000-08:00

Marrickville Library has just added another 60 titles to our online collection of Bolinda audiobooks including;

• The Brain that Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
• Shiver by Maggie Stiefrater
• Truth by Peter Temple
• The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas
• The Plantation by Di Morrissey
• The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephanie Meyer

These titles can be accessed through the Library Catalogue or our Marrickville Library Bolinda page.

Add your own Book Reviews to Marrickville Library Catalogue

2011-01-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

Ever felt the urge to write a review of a book that you absolutely adored or maybe even loathed.
Every item on the Marrickville Library Catalogue now has a “Write a review” link.
It’s simple to use and you are helping fellow readers make more informed judgements on the books they choose to borrow.

The catalogue can be accessed from the Library homepage at http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/library.html

Marrickville Library on Facebook

2010-12-13T18:57:00.001-08:00

If you have a Facebook account, you can join our Marrickville Library and History Services Facebook group to keep up to date on Library events, activities and services.

Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2010 winners announced

2010-12-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

The winners of the 2010 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Australia's richest literary prize have been announced. Eva Hornung, Grace Karskens, Bill Condon and Lorraine Marwood each received $100,000 for their winning books which were selected from a field of over 330 entries.

The winner of the Fiction award is Eva Hornung for her outstanding novel Dog Boy. This daring novel with ancient folkloric and literary traditions of children lost, then raised and nurtured in the animal world was chosen for its testing but triumphant feat of the imagination.

The winning entry for Non-fiction is Grace Karskens' The Colony: A History of Early Sydney an intimate account of the transformation of a campsite in a beautiful cove to the town that later became Sydney, was praised by the judges for its high literary quality and originality.

This year the Prime Minister's Literary Awards included two new categories; Children's and Young adult fiction. The inaugural Young adult fiction winner is Bill Condon's Confessions of a Liar, Thief and Failed Sex God. This poignant, funny and deeply insightful rite of passage novel is about a student who attends a Catholic boys' school in 1967. The pain of first love and the morality attached to individual life choices is made contemporary in a work praised by the judges as one of tremendous honesty and integrity.

The Children's fiction winner is Star Jumps by Lorraine Marwood, a verse novel told through the eyes of a young girl depicting the joys and heartbreaks of a farming family as they struggle to cope with the devastating effects of long-term drought. According to the judges it was the ‘surprise package’ in the list and the voice in which it is written is appealing, authentic and irresistible.

Further information available at
http://www.arts.gov.au/books/pmliteraryawards10/2010_winners

Howard Jacobson wins 2010 Man Booker Prize

2010-10-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

Howard Jacobson has been named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for The Finkler Question. London author and columnist, Jacobson has been long listed twice for the prize, in 2006 for Kalooki Nights and in 2002 for Who's Sorry Now, but had never before been shortlisted.

His fiction, particularly in the five novels he has published since 1998, is characterised chiefly by a discursive and humorous style. Recurring subjects in his work include male–female relations and the Jewish experience in Britain in the mid- to late-20th century. He has been compared to prominent Jewish-American novelists such as Philip Roth, in particular for their habit of creating versions of themselves in their fiction.

The Finkler Question is a novel about love, loss and male friendship, and explores what it means to be Jewish today. Said to have ‘some of the wittiest, most poignant and sharply intelligent comic prose in the English language', The Finkler Question has been described as ‘wonderful' and ‘richly satisfying' and as a novel of ‘full of wit, warmth, intelligence, human feeling and understanding'.

Wikipedia entry for Howard Jacobson
Man Booker Prize web site

Vargas Llosa wins 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature

2010-10-10T22:12:00.000-07:00

The Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa has been awarded the 2010 Nobel prize in literature. He is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation. Some critics consider him to have had a larger international impact and worldwide audience than any other writer of the Latin American Boom. He was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".

Vargas Llosa rose to fame in the 1960s with novels such as The Time of the Hero (La ciudad y los perros, literally The City and the Dogs), The Green House (La casa verde), and the monumental Conversation in the Cathedral (Conversación en la catedral). He continues to write prolifically across an array of literary genres, including literary criticism and journalism. His novels include comedies, murder mysteries, historical novels, and political thrillers. Several, such as Captain Pantoja and the Special Service and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter , have been adapted as feature films.

He is the first high-profile Latin American writer to win since the Mexican poet Octavio Paz, in 1990. Before that, it had been awarded in 1982 to Colombian-born, Mexico City-based Gabriel García Márquez during the peak years of magic realism, 11 years after the Nobel committee had honoured the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda.

Wikipedia entry for Mario Vargas Llosa
Official Mario Vargas Llosa website

Man Booker Prize 2010 shortlist

2010-09-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Six books have been shortlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. They are:

Peter Carey: Parrot and Olivier in America
Emma Donoghue: Room
Damon Galgut: In a Strange Room
Howard Jacobson: The Finkler Question
Andrea Levy: The Long Song
Tom McCarthy: C

The winner will be announced on 12th October 2010.

More information is available at http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1451

TVS launches new television show for book lovers

2010-09-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

A new television show Shelf Life that explores what everyday people are reading and uncovers new writers and novels of interest to both avid readers and bookshelf browsers is airing on TVS (Digital Channel 44) on Tuesday evenings at 7pm. Presented by Dr Milissa Deitz and Dr Rachel Morley from the UWS School of Communication Arts, Shelf Life is a half hour program that delves into book launches, writing groups and libraries to showcase what’s on offer for Australians who are keen to put their bookmark to use.

In the first episode of Shelf Life on Tuesday 7 September, Anita Heiss discussed her latest book Manhattan Dreaming, and viewers were taken on a tour of the historic wing of the State Library of NSW, the Mitchell Library, for its 100th anniversary.

50 books you can’t put down

2010-09-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

The 2010 Get Reading! celebration of books and reading is on again in September. Now in its ninth year, Get Reading! is a month long nationwide campaign to encourage more Australians to discover or rediscover the pleasure of reading books. The campaign is an Australian Government initiative developed through the Australia Council for the Arts.

Get Reading! is made up of a range of promotions and events. During Get Reading! those who buy one of the books listed in the 50 Books You Can't Put Down guide receive a FREE book exclusive to the campaign. There are also events all over the country featuring authors from the guide and the FREE books. Plus Get Reading! Outdoor Reading Rooms will be popping up in some of our cities' most idyllic locations. Book retailers and libraries all over the country participate in this annual celebration of books and reading.

Go to http://www.getreading.com.au/ to get more information about all the Get Reading! Events happening during September.

A limited number of copies of the 50 Books You Can't Put Down guide are currently available at all Marrickville Library branches.

New novel by local author, Chris Womersley

2010-08-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

Local author, Chris Womersley, whose first book The Low Road won the Ned Kelly crime-writing award for Best First Fiction in 2008 has published his second book, Bereft. A highly favourable review that appeared in last weekend’s SMH can be read here.

The book has been described as “a rich, gripping tale of love, loss, conflict and salvation” and “recommended to fans of Kate Grenville, Tim Winton, Matthew Condon, Craig Silvey, Peter Carey, Peter Temple and Alex Miller” by Angela Meyer of the Literary Minded blog.

Sydney University book fair

2010-08-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

The annual Sydney University book fair, Bookfest, is on at The Great Hall, Sydney University from Saturday 11 September to Wednesday 15 September.
Opening hours are Sat-Tues 10am to 4pm & Wednesday 10am to 2pm. Metered parking available in the grounds.

Enquiries: 9351 7657 or 9417 2894.

gleebooks opens Dulwich Hill branch

2010-08-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Good news for local book lovers - well known bookshop gleebooks has opened a branch at 536 Marrickville Road in Dulwich Hill, featuring a child-friendly children’s annex as well as DVDs, and both new and second hand books. This new shop follows hot on the heels of the opening of second hand bookshop Urchin Books in Marrickville.

gleebooks is open Mon-Sat 9am-7pm and Sunday 9am-5pm.

2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlist

2010-08-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

Minister for the Arts Peter Garrett has announced the shortlists for the 2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards.
For the first time, Young Adult Fiction and Children’s Fiction categories have been added to the awards.

The Fiction shortlist is
• Summertime, J.M. Coetzee
• The Book of Emmett, Deborah Forster
• The Lakewoman, Alan Gould
• Dog Boy, Eva Hornung
• Ransom, David Malouf
• Lovesong, Alex Miller
• As the Earth Turns Silver, Alison Wong

2010 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards homepage

Obituary – Dame Beryl Bainbridge

2010-07-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge, DBE (1932 – 2 July 2010) was an English novelist.

Bainbridge won the Whitbread Awards prize for best novel in 1977 and 1996, and was nominated five times for the Booker Prize. She was described in 2007 as ‘a national treasure’. In 2008, The Times newspaper named Bainbridge among their list of ‘The 50 greatest British writers since 1945’.

Having spent her formative years as an actress, Bainbridge continued to entertain through her writing – more than 20 novels, many of which depict the lives of the English lower middle classes. Since the late 1970s, she shifted to historical themes (eg Scott’s expedition to the South Pole, the sinking of the Titanic, the Crimean War) with equal, if not greater, success. Her trademark is the sardonic - even at times macabre - wit in her books, usually mercilessly black comedies with eccentric characters. Her skill was that despite this acerbic approach, the reader never loses sympathy with these inhabitants of a peculiarly 'dismal England'.

Her Wikipedia page has more information on her life and books including interviews.

1st novelist to sell more than one million e-books

2010-07-13T21:05:00.000-07:00

US thriller writer James Patterson has become the first novelist to sell more than one million electronic books.

Patterson’s publisher Hachette said the best-selling author of Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider and other titles in the Alex Cross series has sold a total of 1.14 million e-books. Patterson's books have sold more than 205 million copies worldwide in print.

The Library has some of James Patterson’s books available in its new eLibrary24/7 collection of electronic books.

Obituary – José Saramago

2010-07-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

José de Sousa Saramago, (1922 – 18 June 2010) was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasising the human factor.
Saramago was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. His books have been translated into 25 languages. He helped to establish the National Front for the Defence of Culture in Lisbon in 1992.The same year, the Portuguese government ordered the removal of The Gospel According to Jesus Christ from the European Literary Prize's shortlist, claiming the work was religiously offensive. Saramago complained of censorship and moved to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands where he lived until his death. A proponent of libertarian communism, Saramago came into conflict with some groups, including the Catholic Church and some Holocaust survivors who accused him of anti-semitism.

Marrickville Library has copies of his books, Seeing and Blindness and a number of other titles in other languages.

His Wikipedia page has more information on his life and books including links to interviews and his Nobel Prize lecture.

Miles Franklin Award 2010

2010-07-04T18:36:00.000-07:00

Crime writer Peter Temple has been awarded the Miles Franklin Literary Award for 2010 for his novel Truth.

Temple's winning novel is the much anticipated sequel to The Broken Shore and encompasses murder, corruption, family, friends, honour, honesty, deceit, love, betrayal - and truth. A stunning story about contemporary Australian life, Truth is written with great moral sophistication. On behalf of the judging panel, Morag Fraser commented that it was “a controversial and challenging shortlist, accomplished and diverse in many ways that made the judges' task very difficult. Each novel offered quite a distinct and compelling fictional journey".

The shortlist for this years award also included the following books:
Lovesong by Alex Miller
The Bath Fugues by Brian Castro
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
The Book of Emmett by Deborah Foster
Butterfly by Sonya Hartnett

MS Novel Challenge

2010-06-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Australia is calling for literary-minded adults to get involved and raise much needed funds for multiple sclerosis. Take up The Novel Challenge and register yourself – or if you’re a member of a book club join as a team.

To take part:
• Register at www.thenovelchallenge.org.au
• Select a book challenge
• Read for 30 days
• Seek sponsorships from friends, family, and colleagues

Funds raised from The Novel challenge for MS allow the MS Society to provide services to assist people living with MS such as physiotherapy, access to specialist MS nurses and respite care, whilst also working towards funding research into this illness.

Obituary – Randolph Stow

2010-06-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Randolph Stow (1935-2010) was a West Australian writer and contemporary of Patrick White who achieved success at an early age when he won the Miles Franklin Award in 1958 for To the Islands which was based on his experiences while working as an anthropologist on an aboriginal mission. His 1965 work The Merry-go-round in the Sea is also well known, particularly as it was used in many school syllabi during the late 1960s and 70s. As well as producing fiction and poetry he also wrote children’s books and libretti for theatrical works. He lived in England for the past 40 years and died on the 29 May from liver cancer.

More information and links are available from his Wikipedia entry.

Secondhand bookshop in Marrickville

2010-06-07T18:29:00.000-07:00

A new secondhand bookshop has opened up in Marrickville, the first for many years.

It is called Urchin Books and is located at 238 Marrickville Road. They are open from 10am to 6pm every day including weekends.

Jane Austen’s fiction manuscripts go online

2010-06-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Jane Austen’s fiction manuscripts are the first significant body of holograph evidence surviving for any British novelist. They represent every stage of her writing career and a variety of physical states: working drafts, fair copies, and handwritten publications for private circulation. The manuscripts were held in a single collection until 1845, when at her sister Cassandra’s death they were dispersed among family members, with a second major dispersal, to public institutions and private collections, in the 1920s.

Now they have been brought together again and made available to the public online.

Access via http://www.janeausten.ac.uk/index.html

Lost Man Booker Prize from 1970 announced

2010-05-25T21:22:00.000-07:00

The Booker Prize Foundation announced last year that it would be awarding a retrospective Booker Prize for books published in 1970. In 1971, just two years after it began, the Booker Prize ceased to be awarded retrospectively and became, as it is today, a prize for the best novel in the year of publication. At the same time, the date on which the award was given moved from April to November. As a result of these changes, there was whole year's gap when a wealth of fiction, published in 1970, fell through the net. The six books shortlisted for this award were;

• The Birds on the Trees by Nina Bawden (Virago)
• Troubles by J G Farrell (Phoenix)
• The Bay of Noon by Shirley Hazzard (Virago)
• Fire From Heaven by Mary Renault (Arrow)
• The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark (Penguin)
• The Vivisector by Patrick White (Vintage)

The winner was J G Farrell for Troubles. Troubles is the first in Farrell's Empire Trilogy, which was followed by The Siege of Krishnapur (1973) and The Singapore Grip (1978). The Siege of Krishnapur won the Booker Prize in 1973 and was shortlisted for the Best of the Booker, a special award created to mark the 40th anniversary of the prize in 2008. J G Farrell died in 1979.

Set in Ireland in 1919, just after the First World War, Troubles tells the tragic-comic story of Major Brendan Archer who has gone to visit Angela, a woman he believes may be his fiancée. Her home, from which he is unable to detach himself, is the dilapidated Majestic, a once grand Irish hotel, and all around is the gathering storm of the Irish War of Independence.

2010 NSW Premier's Literary Awards Winners

2010-05-23T19:33:00.000-07:00

The NSW Premier’s Literary Awards honour both new and familiar writers, and the novels, poems, biographies, histories, plays and screenplays that have delighted readers of all ages since 1979. The winners of the major 2010 NSW Premier's Literary Awards are:

Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
J.M. Coetzee, Summertime

Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction & Book of the Year
Paul McGeough, Kill Khalid: Mossad's failed hit ... and the rise of Hamas

The People's Choice Award
Cate Kennedy, The World Beneath

Copies of these books are held in the Marrickville Library collection. Further information on these titles and other award winners is available from http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/.

Authors at Ashfield Library – June

2010-05-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

All events are free and are held at 260 Liverpool Road, Level 3 Civic Centre, Ashfield. Enquiries: Therese Scott 9716 1821

Further details available at http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/page/authors_at_ashfield.html

Robyn Catchlove Somewhere down a crazy river : a spirited life of catching love, fish and wisdom
Thursday June 3 2010 at 1pm
Come along and listen to Inner West author Robyn Catchlove talk about her life as Australia's first female Barramundi fisherman. This is a story about passions - where they can take you, how to walk away from them if they threaten to destroy you and what is left if you have the courage to do so.

Noelene Kyle A Greater Guilt: Constance Emilie Kent and the Road Murder
Tuesday June 8 2010 at 1pm
A brutal murder of a child in the English village of Road in 1860 remained an unsolved crime until the sensational confession of Constance Emilie Kent in 1865. Hear more about her 20 years in prison and emigration to Australia. One for the true crime enthusiasts. Book for sale from the author on the day.

David Millar illustrated lecture Ludwig II, the fairytale KingTuesday June 15 2010 at 1pm
Neuschwanstein is a 19th century Neo-Romanticist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and a homage to Richard Wagner. In beautiful Bavaria, a sad King with a joyless childhood would build beautiful castles before his tragic end. David Millar will take us on a tour of this fairytale palace.

Brian Boettcher Eleven Bloody days: the Battle for Milne Bay
Friday June 25 2010 at 1pm
Hear about the myriad of problems faced by the Australians in this significant Pacific battle of 1942 and learn more about our military history from Associate Professor Boettcher who will be selling copies of his book at this event.

Sydney Bauer Matter of Trust and Malla Nunn Let the dead lie. Crime fiction double header!
Wednesday June 30 2010 at 1pm
A crime fiction double header for all fans of thriller and mystery novels. In Sydney Bauer's latest novel of intrigue, A Matter of trust, it's been a long time since criminal defence attorney David Cavanaugh has heard his childhood friend Chris Kincaid speak of Marilyn Maloney, a name from the past - from a time when David, Chris and the third in the gang of three, Mike, vowed never to let a girl get in the way of their friendship. Buried family secrets, devastating lies, and a seemingly uncatchable killer plague David as he races toward a trial which seems impossible to win. In Malla Nunn's latest crime novel Let the dead lie, Emmanuel Cooper is a changed man. Forced to resign from his position of Detective Sergeant and reclassified as mixed race, he winds up powerless and alone in the tough coastal city of Durban, mixing labouring with a bit of surveillance work for his old boss Major van Niekerk. Patrolling the freight yards one night, Cooper stumbles upon the body of a young white boy and the detective in him cannot, or will not, walk away.

Library and Information Week 24 May-30 May

2010-05-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Marrickville Library is celebrating Library and Information Week from 24 May to 30 May 2010 with the following events.

Art Potteries of Marrickville
Robert Hutchinson from the Marrickville Heritage Society will talk about the three art potteries that thrived in Marrickville - Fowlers, Diana and Studio Anna. They were famous for their Australiana ceramics and their classic 1950s and 60s designs. Many examples of their kitchen and souvenir ware can still be found in Australian homes today.
Where: Marrickville Library
When: Tuesday 25 May at 6pm
Bookings essential, call the library on 9335 2173

Pottery Demonstration
Local artist Jean Hartman from Silver Street Studio will be conducting free pottery demonstrations as part of Library and Information Week celebrations. A light morning tea will be provided.
Where: Marrickville Library
When: Wednesday 26 May from 11am

Art Stack, No Holds Barred….
Marrickville Library has a historic art collection which began in the early 1970s. The Art Stack holds many books about well known artists both Australian and International. The collection also includes books on art movements, art history and art theory. It is a treasure trove of books to discover and explore. Access to the collection and morning tea will be provided.
Where: Marrickville Library
When: Friday 28 May from 11am

ABR announces results of ‘Favourite Australian Novel’ poll

2010-05-02T20:21:00.000-07:00

The ABR (Australian Book Review), copies of which are available at Marrickville Library, has recently announced the results of its readers poll ‘Favourite Australian Poll’. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton has come in at Number 1. The top twenty can be viewed here and the full list of 270 can be viewed here. How many have you read ?

Sydney Writers Festival 2010

2010-04-11T23:30:00.000-07:00

The program for the 2010 Sydney Writers Festival May 15-23 has been released. As usual the program has a huge number of Australian and international authors. International highlights this year include William Dalrymple, John Ralston Saul, Colm Toibin and Elizabeth Gilbert. Some of Australia’s most accomplished authors including Peter Carey, Thomas Keneally, Les Murray, David Malouf and many others are also participating. There are hundreds of different events, many of them free, covering a whole host of different genres and subjects.
The Library has a small number of copies of the Official Guide available in the foyer at Marrickville Library. The full program can be accessed online.

Authors @ Ashfield

2010-04-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ashfield Library, in co-operation with Better Read than Dead, hosts a selection of author/book events every month. The following events are scheduled for April. All are free and held at Ashfield Library, 260 Liverpool Road, Level 3 Civic Centre, Ashfield.

Susannah Fullerton illustrated lecture: Leo Tolstoy, his life and works
Tuesday April 13 at 1pm
Leo Tolstoy was born into the Russian nobility. He lost much of his money during a wild youth of gambling, womanising and drinking, before finding fame writing short stories. Susannah Fullerton tells the story of this complex man.

Noel Braun : Friend and philosopher and Whistler Street.
Monday April 19 at 1pm
Sydney writer Noel Braun will talk about his writing life, in particular his two novels Friend and Philosopher and Whistler Street and his forthcoming memoir No Way to behave at a funeral.
Books for sale and signing from the author.

Wendy James: Where have you been?
Friday April 23 at 1pm
This domestic thriller takes the form of a classic imposter novel, but with a 21st century twist. A seemingly perfect family household is rocked by the reappearance of a sister who they thought was long gone. Suspicions soon arise and no-one is sure if she is who she claims to be.

David Millar illustrated lecture: High society in Jane Austen's time
Wednesday April 28 at 1pm
David Millar will present an Illustrated lecture set during Jane Austen's time. Hear all about the scandals and misdemeanours of the upper classes in the Regency Period.

Odd title prize for crochet book

2010-04-05T17:17:00.000-07:00

Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes, a book on how to make geometric models using needlepoint, has won a prize given to oddly-titled books.

Written by Latvian mathematician Daina Taimina, Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes won the annual Diagram Prize after a public vote run by Bookseller magazine. Other candidates included Afterthoughts Of A Worm Hunter and Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich.
Taimina, a mathematician at Cornell University, uses crochet to illustrate the properties of hyperbolic planes. Difficult to model, these are forms in which lines curve away from each other instead of running parallel or converging. Her creations which resemble complex coral formations have been hailed by academics and included in art shows. The book's win was attributed to "the public proclivity towards non-Euclidian needlework".

April issue of Good Reading is now online

2010-03-30T19:08:00.000-07:00

This month find out what Clown Doctor Jean-Paul Bell likes to read, meet author of A Beautiful Place to Die Malla Nunn, read about Fiona McIntosh’s latest novel, use Peter Temple discussion notes in your book club, enter one of our fantastic competitions, find out all about turning Peter Carey’s novel Bliss into an opera, get the latest book gossip, and read reviews of all the latest books.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online click here. While you’re there have a look at the Good Reading website. You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own book reviews.

Reading Challenges for all Readers

2010-02-28T18:34:00.000-08:00

Reading Challenges are a good way of learning about new and interesting books and discussing them with other people. There are many Reading Challenges available throughout the world. Find one that is perfect for your reading preference, choose one to explore a new reading experience or suggest a challenge for your bookgroup.

Click here for a list of recommended Reading Challenges

March issue of Good Reading is now online

2010-02-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

Track down your family history, meet Belinda Alexandra, find out about Jan Wong’s new book, get recommendations from other readers, read reviews of all the latest books, catch up on book gossip, enter competitions, and much more!

While you’re there, check out the November 2003 magazine, which has just become available online.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here. While you’re there, have a look at the Good Reading website. You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own book reviews.

February Issue of Good Reading Online now available

2010-01-26T21:07:00.000-08:00

Log into the digital magazine to read about the success of the Kellerman family; find out what Elizabeth Kostova has to say about art, madness and beauty; discover what to read before visiting London; taste test John Barlow’s book Everything but the Squeal; enter fantastic competitions; find out what’s on Julian Burnside’s bookshelf and read reviews of new release books across all genres.

Don’t forget you can search for your favourite authors across all back issues by using the search function.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here. While you’re there, have a look at the Good Reading website. You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own book reviews.

Writing Crime

2010-01-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

An evening’s free entertainment: True Crime and crime fiction

Peter Corris: local crime fiction author
Peter Milne: expert on crime writing
Chrys Meader: Marrickville Local Historian

Friday 12 February 6.30 pm at Marrickville Town Hall
Light refreshments will be provided.

Contact 9335 2173 or libml@marrickville.nsw.gov.au for bookings

Marrickville Reads Summer Competition

2009-12-17T15:17:00.000-08:00

Win $100 worth of books with Good Reading Online!

Just log into Good Reading Online magazine via http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/library/webresources/databases.htm

and email your answer with your name & Marrickville Library membership number to libml@marrickville.nsw.gov.au

Question : Which crime writer from Baltimore is interviewed about their latest novel in the December / January issue of Good Reading?

Competition closes Wednesday 10 February 2010 at 5pm.

Winner of 17th annual Bad Sex In Fiction Award announced.

2009-12-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

Author Jonathan Littell is the winner of the 17th annual Bad Sex In Fiction Award, for his novel The Kindly Ones. The book, which was originally published in French, won the Prix Goncourt in 2006 and has sold over a million copies in Europe. The author has yet to comment. The Literary Review said Littell's book was "in part a work of genius", adding they hoped the author would take their dishonour "in good humour". The shortlist for the prize also included works by Paul Theroux and musician Nick Cave.

Bad Sex in Fiction Award webpage

December/January Issue of Good Reading Online now available

2009-11-30T21:20:00.000-08:00

Check out the latest issue of Good Reading online to help you write your Summer reading list! It is packed full of reviews of all the latest books. This month, we talk to Sallie Muirden about her novel A Woman of Seville; give advice on finding a new home for your pre-loved books; reveal all the inside information on The Lovely Bones at the big screen; visit Janet Frame’s home town; find out what Wil Anderson likes to read; and chat with Laura Lippman about finding inspiration.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here. While you’re there, have a look at the Good Reading website. You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own book reviews.

Author events at Gleebooks in November

2009-11-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

All events are held at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.
Bookings are necessary and some events require a fee: Phone 9660 2333 or request a place via their Events page

Meanjin Dorothy Porter Poetry Prize
Saturday, November 14, 2009 / 3.30 for 4pm
In this very special free event, Meanjin will present the first ever Dorothy Porter Poetry Prize. Dorothy's partner, author Andrea Goldsmith and friend and poet, Judith Beveridge, will talk about and read from the posthumously published book of poetry The Bee Hut.

Jonathan Biggins: 700 Habits of Highly Ineffective Parents
Monday, November 16, 2009 / 6.30 for 7pm
In conversation with Wendy Harmer. Following the success of his first book The 700 Habits of Highly Ineffective People, Jonathan Biggins explores the world of the ineffective parent, that dismal figure traditionally held responsible for all the sins, problems, hang-ups and disappointments of their ungrateful progeny.

Robyn Davidson / Delia Falconer / Robert Adamson: Best Australian Essays 2009 / Best Australian Stories 2009 / Best Australian Poems 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 / 6.30 for 7pm
In this event, editors Robyn Davidson, Delia Falconer and Robert Adamson will discuss their choices for the iconic annual publications Best Australian Essays, Stories, and Poems 2009.

Sunday Book Club November: Patrick Allington – Figurehead
Sunday, November 29, 2009 / 3.30 for 4pm
Join Morgan Smith and author Patrick Allington to discuss his amazing debut novel, Figurehead.

2009 Prime Minister's Literary Awards winner announced

2009-11-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

Minister for the Arts, Peter Garrett has announced the winners of the 2009 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.

The winner of the 2009 Fiction award is Nam Le for his book of short stories The Boat. The judging panel was impressed by the daring scope and excellence of its execution, the generous breadth of its emotional and social traverse and the excitement generated by every story.

Find out more about the shortlist and other winners at www.arts.gov.au/pmliteraryawards.

November issue of Good Reading now available online

2009-10-28T22:20:00.000-07:00

This month find out about actor-turned-writer Judy Nunn’s latest book Maralinga, discover the people who brought Mao’s Last Dancer to the big screen, check out some sensational images from the Queensland Ballet, find out if printed books are facing extinction, see what Steven Galloway has to say about his novel The Cellist of Sarajevo, enter competitions, and read reviews of all the latest books.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here. While you’re there, have a look at the Good Reading website. You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own book reviews.

Literary Reference Center

2009-10-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

Literary Reference Center is a full-text database that combines information from major respected reference works, books and literary journals. It contains full text for more than 31,000 plot summaries, synopses and work overviews, nearly 100,000 articles/essays of literary criticism, more than 159,000 author biographies (including more than 22,000 in-depth bios), 450 literary journals, more than 632,000 book reviews, more than 69,000 classic and contemporary poems, more than 18,000 classic and contemporary short stories, more than 5,600 author interviews, more than 8,200 classic texts and much more.

Marrickville Library provides access to this resource for its members via its online resources web page.

2009 Man Booker Prize winner announced

2009-10-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall: A Novel has won this year's Man Booker Prize.

Wolf Hall is historical fiction set in the court of Henry VIII. The London Times online reports: "The judges described Hilary Mantel's 650-page doorstopper about political manoeuvring at the court of Henry VIII as an 'extraordinary piece of storytelling . . . a modern novel that happens to be set in the 16th century'."

Man Booker Prize site

Books by Hilary Mantel in the Marrickville Library Collection

Lisa Jackson : Author Display at Dulwich Hill Library

2009-10-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

Lisa Jackson began writing at the urging of her sister, novelist Nancy Bush. Inspired by the success of authors she admired and the burgeoning market for romance fiction at the time, Nancy was convinced they could work together and succeed. They sat down, determined to write and to be published. They did and they were. Initially they wrote together. Later, they moved in different directions. Lisa brought more and more suspense to her work and began writing much darker stories.

Her novel Shiver won the Rendevous Rosebud Award, and If She Only Knew was a finalist for the Reviewer's International Organization Dorothy Parker Award for Excellence for Best Suspense Novel. Her books regularly place high on the New York Times, USA Today and Publisher's Weekly best seller lists.

Books by Lisa Jackson in the Marrickville Library Collection

October issue of Good Reading now available online

2009-10-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

October Good Reading is online now! Log in to find out what MasterChef Matt Preston likes to read; hear what Margaret Leroy has to say about her chilling new story The Drowning Girl; take a trip into the future with crime writer Stuart MacBride; read an extract from Judy Nunn’s Maralinga; meet Perth sci-fi writer K. A. Bedford, catch up on all the latest book gossip and trivia; enter competitions to win great book prizes, and read reviews of all the latest books.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here. While you’re there, have a look at the Good Reading website. You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own book reviews.

Gone with the Wind @ Ashfield Library

2009-09-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

Susannah Fullerton illustrated lecture: Margaret Mitchell & Gone with the Wind
Wednesday 7 October, 1pm Level 3 Civic Centre, Ashfield: Free

Gone with the Wind was published in 1936 and became one of the most successful novels in history. Set before, during and after the American Civil War, Mitchell’s epic book focused on the tempestuous relationship between Scarlett and Rhett. But did you know that the willful young woman at the centre of the book was originally planned to be called Pansy O’Hara? Find out more fascinating facts about the book and the author's life with speaker Susannah Fullerton.

Books by and about Margaret Mitchell in the Marrickville Library Collection

Vogel Literary Award 2009

2009-09-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

The winners of the Vogel Literary Award for 2009 have been announced. The award has been shared by Sydney writer Kristel Thornell for her novel Night Street, based on the painter Clarice Beckett, and by the Melbourne author Lisa Lang for her novel Utopian Man, based on Edward William Cole, the colourful owner of Cole’s Book Arcade.

The Australian/Vogel Literary Award is an Australian literary award for unpublished manuscripts by writers under the age of 35. The prize money, currently $20,000 (AUD), is the richest and most prestigious award for an unpublished manuscript in Australia.

Home page for 2009 Vogel Literary Award shortlisted novels

2009 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlist

2009-09-24T20:18:00.000-07:00

In 2008 the inaugural award for fiction was given to Steven Conte for The Zookeeper’s Wife. This year’s shortlist is very strong and includes such heavyweights as Murray Bail, Geraldine Brooks and Richard Flanagan as well as Nam Le, winner of the 2009 NSW Premier’s Literary Award.

Murray Bail, The Pages [Books by Murray Bail at Marrickville Library]
Geraldine Brooks, People of the Book [Books by Geraldine Brooks at Marrickville Library]
Richard Flanagan, Wanting [Books by Richard Flanagan at Marrickville Library]
Peter Goldsworthy, Everything I Knew [Books by Peter Goldsworthy at Marrickville Library]
Sofie Laguna, One Foot Wrong [Books by Sofie Laguna at Marrickville Library]
Joan London, The Good Parents [Books by Joan London at Marrickville Library]
Nam Le, The Boat [Books by Nam Le at Marrickville Library]

2009 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards homepage

Author Events at Gleebooks in October

2009-09-22T21:27:00.000-07:00

All events are held at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.
Bookings are necessary : Phone 9660 2333 or request a place via their Events page

Vincent Smith : Blow the Wind SoutherlyFriday, 2 October / 6.00 for 6.30pm : Cost – Free

Vincent Smith served as an Army chaplain and an honorary chaplain to the police and emergency services. He has had a long and abiding interest in the era surrounding World War 1 and, as a theological student in the 1960s, used to visit veterans of that terrible conflict who were still confined to old wooden wards in the Concord Repatriation Hospital. The people he met there and the stories passed down to him about his own grandfathers, who served on the Western Front, sowed the seeds that became Blow the Wind Southerly.

Cate Kennedy : The World BeneathSunday, 25 October 25 / 3.30 for 4pm : Cost – Free

Cate Kennedy is an award-winning short-story writer who has twice won The Age short story competition. Dark Roots was shortlisted for the Steele Rudd Award in the Queensland Premier's Literary Awards and for the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. The World Beneath is the story of two former environmental activists, part of a world-famous blockade in Tasmania to save the wilderness. Now, twenty-five years later, they have both settled into the uncomfortable compromises of middle age - although they've gone about it in very different ways. About the only thing they have in common these days is their fifteen-year-old daughter, Sophie. When Rich decides to take Sophie on a trek into the Tasmanian wilderness, his overconfidence and her growing disillusion with him set off a chain of events that no one could have predicted. Ultimately, they will learn that if they are to survive, each must traverse not only the secret territories that lie between them but also those within themselves.

Books by Cate Kennedy in the Marrickville Library Collection

Man Booker Prize shortlist

2009-09-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

Six books have been shortlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize. They are:

· Adam Foulds' "The Quickening Maze," inspired by 19th-century poet John Clare
· Simon Mawer's "The Glass Room," the story of a Jewish family set against the backdrop of the rise of Nazism
· Sarah Waters' "The Little Stranger," a spooky tale that unfolds in 1940s England
· A.S.Byatt’s Edwardian family saga "The Children's Book"
· J.M. Coetzee's semi-autobiographical "Summertime"
· Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall," a historical novel set during the reign of Henry VIII

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 6th October 2009.

Novels by Adam Foulds in the Marrickville Library Collection
Novels by Simon Mawer in the Marrickville Library Collection
Novels by Sarah Waters in the Marrickville Library Collection
Novels by A.S.Byatt in the Marrickville Library Collection
Novels by J.M.Coetzee in the Marrickville Library Collection
Novels by Hilary Mantel in the Marrickville Library Collection

Ursula Le Guin – Author display at Dulwich Hill Library

2009-09-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Dulwich Hill Library has a display on best-selling American author, Ursula Le Guin during September 2009.

She has written novels, poetry, children's books, essays, and short stories, most notably in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. First published in the 1960s, her works explore Taoist, anarchist, ethnographic, feminist, psychological and sociological themes.

Novels by Ursula Le Guin in the Marrickville Library Collection

Ursula Le Guin’s official homepage

Author Events at Gleebooks in September

2009-08-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

All events are held at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.
Bookings are necessary : Phone 9660 2333 or request a place via their Events page

Indigenous Literacy Day
A Tribute to Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Wednesday 2 September at 6.00 for 6.30 pm : Cost: $10/$7 conc.
This fundraiser for the Indigenous Literacy Project will feature readings, music and dance, in celebration of the life of Indigenous writer and activist, Oodgeroo Noonuccal (formerly Kath Walker).
Readings of Oodgeroo’s work by: Anita Heiss, Rosie Scott, Debra Adelaide

Music performance by Nadeena Dixon
Dance performance by Eric Avery
Books by Oodgeroo Noonuccal at Marrickville Library

September issue of Good Reading now available online

2009-08-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

The September issue of Good Reading is now online! This month, read about the latest novel from Australian doctor-turned-author Kathryn Fox; find how Christian Lander chose victims for his biting satire Stuff White People Like; learn how Pete Evans makes gözleme; Tracy Chevalier’s new novel about a remarkable historical woman; learn about the origins of the smallpox vaccine. It’s also packed with over sixty new book reviews, more author profiles, book trivia and more.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here. While you’re there, have a look at their website. You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own review of a book.

Author Events at Gleebooks in August

2009-07-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

All events are held at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.
Bookings are necessary : Phone 9660 2333 or request a place via their Events page.

Imran Ahmad
Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the WestMonday 3 August at 6.30 for 7pm : Cost: Free.
In this talk entitled: 'Islam and the West: Living, Travelling and Getting Published in a Post-9/11 World', Imran Ahmad gives an insightful, poignant, entertaining but, above all, personal account of his experiences growing up in the Cold War era, dreaming of being a writer, and the profound changes he experienced after 9/11.
Imran Ahmad was born in Pakistan, grew up in London, and went to university in Scotland, before embarking on a corporate career which took him all over the world, including five years living in the United States. His book, Unimagined, has received wide acclaim. He is visiting Sydney en route to the Byron Bay Writers' Festival.

Rupert Isaacson
The Horse Boy: A Father's StoryThursday 26 August at 6.30 for 7pm : Cost: $10/$7 conc.
When his son Rowan was diagnosed with autism Rupert Isaacson was devastated, fearing he would never be able to communicate with his child. Then two things happened. Rowan made an unlikely connection with a group of visiting traditional healers; and Rupert, a lifelong horseman, went riding with his son. The improvement each time was so striking that Rupert Isaacson came up with a crazy idea. There is one place, one culture, in the world where horses and shamanic healing intersect. Why not take Rowan there-to Mongolia?
Rupert Isaacson was born in London to a South African mother and a Zimbabwean father. Isaacson's first book, The Healing Land (Grove Press), was a 2004 New York Times Notable Book. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Kristin, and their son, Rowan.

Books by Rupert Isaacson at Marrickville Library

August issue of Good Reading now available

2009-07-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

The August issue of Good Reading is now online! This month, find out about the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner; get the lowdown on manga; find out about the Swedish crime writers sweeping the world; read about Lisa Lutz talking about the Spellman Sleuths and Sarah Henderson shares with us some of her adventures with elephants. The August issue also features more interviews, is packed full of book reviews, trivia, extracts and more.

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here.

Author Events at Ashfield Library in August

2009-07-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Craig Silvey
Jasper Jones - Friday 14 August at 1pm : Level 3 Ashfield Civic Centre : Free
Brilliant, funny, heartbreaking and incredibly wise, this is the second novel from the author of Rhubarb. Craig is an outstanding new talent, and his event with Penguin Plays Rough at the Sydney Writers Fest was a sell out hit, with over 150 people turning up to hear him talk! More info & Bookings
Books by Craig Silvey at Marrickville Library

Susannah Fullerton illustrated lecture
Robert Burns - Tuesday 18 August at 1pm : Level 3 Ashfield Civic Centre : Free
Robert Burns is the national poet of Scotland, yet his birthday is celebrated all around the world. This is because his poetry speaks not only for the Scots, but for human beings everywhere. 2009 is the 250th anniversary of his birth. Susannah Fullerton tells the story of his short but remarkable life and discusses his varied and wonderful poetic output. More info and Bookings
Books about Robert Burns at Marrickville Library

Karen Rose – Author display at Dulwich Hill Library

2009-07-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Dulwich Hill Library has a display on best-selling American romantic suspense author, Karen Rose during July-August 2009.

Karen Rose has released nine romance suspense novels and has won several RITA Awards from the Romance Writer’s of America organisation. Her books are characterised by involved plotting and in-depth characterisation.

Novels by Karen Rose at Marrickville Library

Karen Rose homepage

Obituary: Frank McCourt

2009-07-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Obituary: Frank McCourt

Irish/American author Frank McCourt has died at the age of 78 from cancer in Manhattan. He received the Pulitzer Prize (1997) and National Book Critics Circle Award (1996) for his memoir Angela's Ashes (1996), which details his childhood as a poor Irish Catholic in Limerick. He is also the author of 'Tis (1999), which continues the narrative of his life, picking up from the end of the previous book and focusing on life as a new immigrant in America. Teacher Man (2005), detailed the challenges of being a young, uncertain teacher. His works are often part of the syllabus in high schools. In 2002, he was awarded the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award.

Books by Frank McCourt in Marrickville Library

Wikipedia entry for Frank McCourt

Author Events at Gleebooks in July

2009-06-29T18:30:00.001-07:00

All events are held at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe.
Bookings are necessary : Phone 9660 2333 or request a place via their Events page

Anne Summers : The Lost Mother
Wednesday 8 July at 6.30 for 7pm : Cost: $10/$7 conc.
The Lost Mother is a poignant narrative about author Anne Summers' relationship with her mother, told through her search for a lost painting of her mother as a child. Anne Summers is a bestselling author and columnist, and a former editor-in-chief of landmark American feminist magazine Ms.
Books by Anne Summers at Marrickville Library

Nick Earls: The True Story of Butterfish
Thursday 9 July at 6.30 for 7pm : Cost: $10/$7 conc.
Nick Earls' latest book The True Story of Butterfish is the Daily Telegraph's Big Book Club monthly selection for July. Filled with acute observation, humour and tenderness, Butterfish is Nick Earls at his very best. Nick Earls is the author of thirteen books, including bestselling novels such as Zigzag Street, Bachelor Kisses and Perfect Skin.

Mark Tredinnick: The Blue Plateau: A Landscape Memoir
Thursday 30 July at 6.30 for 7pm : Cost: $10/$7 conc.
The Blue Plateau is a lyrical natural history of the Blue Mountains, and memoir of one man's attempt to belong there. Evocative and deeply moving, The Blue Plateau is a poet's story of an astonishing place and a loving portrait of home Mark Tredinnick wrote the best-selling writing guides The Little Red Writing Book (2006) and The Little Green Grammar Book (2008).
Books by Mark Tredinnick at Marrickville Library

Nicholas Jose: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature
Friday 31 July at 6pm for 6.30pm : Free
In this free event to celebrate the publication of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature, leading contributors will read from their work and discuss the importance of this anthology. Some of the best, most significant writing produced in Australia over more than two centuries is gathered in this landmark anthology. Covering all genres - from fiction, poetry and drama to diaries, letters, essays and speeches - the anthology maps the development of one of the great literatures in English in all its energy and variety. Nicholas Jose is a novelist, essayist and scholar.
Books by Nicholas Jose at Marrickville Library

Author Events at Ashfield Library in July

2009-06-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Lorraine McGee-Sippel: Hey Mum, what's a half-caste?

Friday July 10th at 1pm : Level 3 Ashfield Civic Centre : Free
Lorraine McGee-Sippel was just a small girl when she asked her parents what a half-caste was. It was the 1950s and the first step on a journey that would span decades and lead her to search for her birth family. In the historic climate of the Rudd Government's Apology, McGee-Sippel aligns herself with the Stolen Generations as she reveals the far-reaching effects of a government policy that saw her adoptive parents being told their daughter was of Afro-American descent. More info

Barry Maitland : Dark mirror

Wednesday July 22nd at 1pm : Level 3 Ashfield Civic Centre : Free
When the red-haired, beautiful and mysterious, Marion Summers dies in horrendous circumstances in the London Library, Brock and Kolla are brought in to investigate. 'Dark mirror' is the new mystery novel from Australia's master of crime. More info

July issue of Good Reading now available

2009-06-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

Are you after the low down on all the latest books? Look no further than the July issue of Good Reading, which is online now! This month A S Byatt, author of Possession, talks with Good Reading about her latest novel The Children’s Book. Discover what Nikki Gemmell has to say about writing her latest release, The Book of Rapture. Find out what the people at Qld Ballet are reading, try your hand at their literary crossword, and enter competitions to win books!

Marrickville Library members can view the magazine online, click here. While you’re there, have a look at their new website! You can use their forum to connect with other readers, access lots of first chapters and reading group notes, and write your own review of a book.

Tim Winton wins 2009 Miles Franklin Award

2009-06-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

The winner of the 2009 Miles Franklin Award is Tim Winton for his book Breath. Tim Winton has published twenty books for adults and children, and his work has been translated into 25 languages. Since his first novel An Open Swimmer won the Australian/Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Literary Award a records four times (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music).

To view Tim Winton’s acceptance speech, click here.

Books by Tim Winton at Marrickville Library

Good Reading magazine now available online

2009-06-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

The Good Reading magazine is now available online and free to Marrickville Library members. Good Reading is a monthly Australian magazine for the book lover. It has thousands of easy to read independent book reviews and lots of interesting Australian and International articles, author profiles, bookshops, short stories, book trivia and more. The online version includes searchable access to back copies of the magazine going back to 2001.

You can access the magazine via the Marrickville Library Readers Assistance web page at http://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/library/readerassistance.htm.

Authors at Gleebooks in June

2009-06-01T00:49:00.000-07:00

The following authors are appearing at Gleebooks in June.

Cecilia Rice : Always Liza to me : Saturday June 13 at 4.30 for 5pm start: Free
George Alexander : Slow Burn : Sunday June 14 at 5.30 for 6pm start : Free
Bob Ellis : And so it went : Friday June 19 at 6.30 for 7pm start : $10
Maurice Whelan : The Lilac Bow : Sunday June 21 at 3.30 for 4pm start : Free

Bookings essential through Gleebooks at 9660 2333 or via their events listing.

Peter Corris – Book Launch

2009-05-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

Local author Peter Corris will be launching the latest in his popular Cliff Hardy detective series, Deep Water at the Newtown branch of Berkelouw Books on Thursday May 28th at 6.30pm.

RSVPs for this event are essential and can be arranged by calling Berkelouw Books on 95571777 or emailing them at newtown@berkelouw.com.au.

Books by Peter Corris at Marrickville Library

NSW Premier’s Literary Award Winner 2009 – Nam Le

2009-05-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

First-time author Nam Le has won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for Book of the Year 2009 for his short story collection, The Boat.

Announcing the award, the Premier, Nathan Rees, said The Boat was “a collection of stories that cross national and cultural borders and allows the reader to experience the world from a wide range of viewpoints and voices”.

Nam Le was born in Vietnam and grew up in Melbourne. He is currently the fiction editor at Harvard Review. His work has been published in Overland, Zoetrope, A Public Space, Conjunctions and One Story, and anthologised in The Best Australian Stories 2007, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2007, Best New American Voices 2009, and The Pushcart Prize 2008.

Books by Nam Le at Marrickville Library

See the full list of winners at http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/.

Tim Winton at Better Read than Dead

2009-05-12T00:26:00.000-07:00

Tim Winton is making an informal stop at Better Read than Dead Bookshop on Wednesday 13th May between 10 and 11 am. Tim has indicated he is prepared to sign books and chat for a limited time.

Obituary: Marilyn French

2009-05-07T18:10:00.000-07:00

American author and feminist Marilyn French died last weekend from heart failure in New York at the age of 79 .

She was best-known for her novel, The Women’s Room, which was released in the 1970’s. The book was one of the best selling feminist novels of all time. It sold more than 20 million copies and was translated into 20 languages.

Books by Marilyn French at Marrickville Library

Author talk at “Better Read than Dead” in May

2009-05-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

@ Better Read than Dead Bookshop.
$10/event. Bookings & more details

Dominic Knight : Disco Boy
A romantic comedy that's equal parts bitingly cynical and naïvely idealistic, Disco Boy is a story for anyone who's ever hit the Pause button on their life, and found it hard to press Play again. Dominic is part of the creative team behind The Chaser and appears "in conversation" with SMH journalist Lisa Pryor, author of a non-fiction book on similar themes last year.
Tuesday 12th May, 6.30pm

Miles Franklin shortlist announced

2009-05-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

The shortlist for the 2009 Miles Franklin Award has recently been announced. From a very strong field the five selected novels are;

Breath Tim Winton
Ice Louis Nowra
The Pages Murray Bail
The Slap Christos Tsiolkas
Wanting Richard Flanagan

Marrickville Library has copies of all these titles. Select the linked titles above to find locations and availability.

Sydney Writers Festival 2009

2009-04-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

Its almost May and that means its time to start booking into your Sydney Writers Festival events. As usual the program has a huge number of Australian and international authors. International highlights this year include Mohammed Hanif, Kazuo Ishiguro, Laura Lippman, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Monica Ali. There are hundreds of different events, many of them free, covering a whole host of different genres and subjects.

See http://www.swf.org.au for more details and bookings.

Staff Pick - Peter Robinson

2009-04-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and now lives in Canada. His bestselling, critically acclaimed Inspector Banks series has won numerous awards in Britain, the United States, Canada and Europe, and has sold over a million copies. His first novel, Gallows View, published in 1987, was short-listed for a best first novel award in Canada and for the John Creasey Award in the UK. Since then, Robinson has published a further 14 novels starring Inspector Banks and his successful career as a policeman, following him through marriage and divorce, and increasingly dark and suspenseful cases.

Novels by Peter Robinson at Marrickville Library

Annette

Authors at Better Read than Dead in April

2009-04-06T01:02:00.000-07:00

@ Better Read than Dead Bookshop
$10/event. Bookings & more details

Jonathon Welch (Choir of hard knocks) talks about the experiences that shaped this 'choiraholic' in his autobiography 'Choir Man'.
Wednesday 15th April, 6.30pm.

David Malouf talks about his new and very well reviewed book 'Ransom'.
Tuesday 21st April, 6.30pm.

Jane Austen & Classics at your Library

2009-04-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Marrickville Library has introduced a Classics collection in the Adult Fiction area which has all the regulars; Dickens, Austen etc, plus a few you might have forgotten about; e.g. Balzac, Marcus Clark, R.L.Stevenson, Trollope.

To celebrate we have prepared a display in the area of books by and about Jane Austen with some information about her life and work.

Novels by Jane Austen at the Library

Books about Jane Austen at the Library

3rd Annual Contemporary Fiction Festival

2009-03-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Australia's only Contemporary Fiction Festival opens its arms to popular genre writers and exciting new media practitioners as well as award-winning literary authors on Sunday April 5 , 10am to 5pm, at the NSW Writers' Centre, Rozelle Hospital Grounds, Callan Park, Rozelle.

This is your chance to hear from writers across the spectrum of contemporary fiction in Australia today. There are sessions on genres like Crime and Fantasy, the state of the Short Story, writing in the New Media, creating Desperate Characters and the fascinating business of turning real life and real relationships into fiction.

The Festival features top genre names like the crime bestseller MICHAEL ROBOTHAM, fantasy author IAN IRVINE and true crime sleuth TOM GILLING, as well as award-winning literary writers GEORGIA BLAIN (pictured), GABRIELLE CAREY, JAMES BRADLEY and MANDY SAYER. You can hear writers and anthology editors FRANK MOORHOUSE (pictured), DELIA FALCONER and AVIVA TUFFIELD discuss the state of the Short Story, and meet a whole new generation of exciting talent coming through local creative writing programs.

Tickets are $40 from www.nswwriterscentre.org.au or (02) 9555 9757.

NSW Premier's Literary Awards shortlist announced

2009-03-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

The shortlists for the 2009 NSW Premier's Literary Awards have been announced. The shortlists, which cover a wide range of literature including fiction, non-fiction, poetry, childrens books & script writing can be found at http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/awards-shortlists.

This year a People's Choice Award has been introduced. You can vote for your choice of best Fiction from the following list at http://www.pla.nsw.gov.au/peoples-choice-award . The Library has copies of all these titles.

Helen Garner - The Spare Room
Kate Grenville - The Lieutenant
Julia Leigh - Disquiet
Joan London - The Good Parents
Steve Toltz - A Fraction of the Whole
Tim Winton - Breath

Winners will be announced on May 18.

Winners of Very Short Book Review

2009-03-22T21:53:00.000-07:00

The winning entries for the Very Short Book Review Competition are;

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy : Time runs out on love but train runs on time
Lord of the Rings by JR Tolkien : The bits that Wagner missed
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis : The original wardrobe malfunction

Many thanks to all the library members who participated.
Winning authors will receive a book voucher from Better Read than Dead bookshop in Newtown

Other selected entries;

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee : He started it
the Life of Pi by Yann Martel : Its value cant be expressed in simple terms
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer : Puts vegetarianism in a new light
Lord of the Rings by JR Tolkien : One does not simply demand for more lore
Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy : So hard, Mr Hardy
The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas : Bad man slaps monstrous toddler resulting in suburban nuclear fallout
Toad Rage by Morris Gleitzmann : Nothing to croak about
Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot by Dav Pilkey : At best, toilet paper
Complete Idiots Guide to being a Model by Roshumba Williams : Don’t judge this book by its cover
The Bad Book by Andy Griffiths : Bad bad book with a bad bad plot. Great!
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer : Stuff diamonds ; this is a girls best friend
Future Shock by Alvin Toffler : Now we know what he meant
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen : Often copied but never equalled
Ulysses by James Joyce : A Bloomin long read

Staff pick - Don DeLillo

2009-03-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

Staff pick - Don Delillo

Don DeLillo is a highly regarded American writer who produces provocative novels about American society set in the late 20th and early 21st century. His books usually touch on themes of violence, social breakdown, consumerism, crowd behaviour and the mass media. Don't let this put you off because he is also a great writer, particularly evocative in his descriptions of places and events. His opening chapter for "Underworld" is captivating and his descriptions of scenes inside the Twin Towers on September 11 from "Falling Man" are frighteningly real.

I have just finished reading "Falling Man" and I can recommend it. It is the story of a survivor from the September 11 attack and a nuanced study of the effects that this event has on him, his family and New York/American society. It is also a little shorter than some of his other books and a good entry to discovering this writers work.

Link to Marrickville Library holdings for Don DeLillo
http://marc.sirsidynix.net.au/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/MARR/0/5?searchdata1=delillo+{au}

Ken Klippel - Information Services Librarian-Marrickville Library

Noeline Brown talks about Stanmore & Marrickville Library

2009-03-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

Noeline Brown, a star of early Australian TV & theatre, grew up in Stanmore and worked at Marrickville Library in the 1940's and 50's.

Noeline is currently Australia's Ambassador for the Aging. The ABC has an audio feed and podcast of a recent "Conversations Hour" segment with her in which she talks about her memories of life in Stanmore and Marrickville.

You can access it at http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2009/02/26/2502093.htm

Better Read than Dead Update

2009-03-04T20:14:00.000-08:00

Better Read than Dead, a local bookshop in Newtown regularly publishes a column in "The Glebe" with information about new and upcoming titles.

Their webpage http://www.betterread.com.au has more information about these titles and more stuff including Reviews and an Events listing. Coming up in April are Author talks by David Malouf and Jonathon Welch

Young Marrickville Writers Competition

2009-03-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

For ages 12-25, living, working or studying in Marrickville

Your story or poem can be any genre or style

Entries must be 200-2000 words, your own original work, and in the theme "Being Young in Marrickville" and must be lodged by April 3rd 2009.

Prizes include Ipod Nano, $100 bookshop voucher, and more.

How to enter:
Entry forms available from Marrickville Library
Fax: Attention to Michelle 9799 0944
Post: Attention to Joanne, PO Box 79, Marrickville 1475
Drop off: To Marrickville Library or Marrickville Youth Resource Centre